SILC data 2020 to 2022 was revised on 7 March 2024 due to changes made to weights, reflecting updated household population benchmarks, because of the availability of Census 2022 data. The data in this publication does not reflect these revisions. For revised data please see SILC 2023 or PxStat.
The income reference period of SILC in year T is the calendar year T-1, i.e. for SILC 2022 the income relates to Jan-Dec 2021.
The median nominal household disposable income in SILC 2022 was €46,999, an increase of €528 (+1.1%) from the previous year. See figure 2.1 and table 2.1a.
Disposable household income is gross household income less total tax, social insurance contributions, pension contributions and inter-household transfers paid. The ‘nominal’ figures discussed here have not been adjusted for inflation. See Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet (PDF 497KB) .
X-axis label | Median | Mean |
---|---|---|
2020 | 43915 | 52941 |
2021 | 46471 | 54746 |
2022 | 46999 | 56486 |
Results from SILC 2022 show that factors such as age, employment status, education level, region, the number of people, and number of workers in the household can all influence household income. Households with three or more persons at work had the highest median household disposable income at €97,045, compared with €25,255 for households with no one at work. See table 2.1a.
Households composed of one adult aged 65 or over had the lowest median household disposable income at €16,840, compared with €79,959 for households composed of three or more adults and no children. See figure 2.2.
X-axis label | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|
1 adult aged 65 years and over | 17312 | 18070 | 16840 |
1 adult aged less than 65 years | 23628 | 23155 | 23978 |
2 adults, at least 1 aged 65 years and over | 37911 | 39051 | 39117 |
2 adults, both aged less than 65 years | 53582 | 52701 | 55663 |
3 or more adults | 75285 | 77472 | 79959 |
1 adult, with children under 18 years | 29506 | 33404 | 36305 |
2 adults, with 1-3 children under 18 years | 58008 | 62513 | 62388 |
Other households with children under 18 years | 66754 | 72420 | 77596 |
SILC results show that those living in owner-occupied households have significantly higher household disposable income compared with people living in rented or rent-free households. The median household disposable income for owner-occupied households was €54,772 in SILC 2022, an increase of €1,846 (+3.5%) from the previous year. The corresponding figure for rented and rent-free households increased by 0.8% to €38,017. See figure 2.3.
Further information on the characteristics of property buyers is available in the CSO’s Characteristics of Residential Property Purchasers 2010-2021 publication, in which the median gross income of residential property purchasers was €71,300 in 2021.
X-axis label | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|
Owner-occupied | 49818 | 52926 | 54772 |
Rented or rent free | 36366 | 37702 | 38017 |
Households in the Eastern and Midland region had a median household disposable income of €53,101, compared with €42,690 in the Southern region, and €38,530 in the Northern and Western region. See table 2.1a.
Real income is income that has been adjusted for inflation using Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. The current time-series begins with SILC 2020, where the income relates to the 2019 calendar year. As such, a base year of 2019 is used to adjust for inflation.
While the unadjusted median nominal household disposable income increased by €528 (+1.1%) to €46,999 in SILC 2022, the real median household disposable income was €46,076, a decrease of 1.2% compared with the previous year. See figure 2.4 and table 2.1c.
Over the calendar year of 2021 (the income reference period for SILC 2022), the annual CPI varied from -0.2% in January to +5.5% in December 2021, see the CSO’s Consumer Price Index December 2021 publication.
X-axis label | Median | Mean |
---|---|---|
2020 | 43915 | 52941 |
2021 | 46627 | 54930 |
2022 | 46076 | 55377 |
Gross income includes social transfers plus market income, such as employment, pension income, employer’s social insurance and pension contributions, and other income. With regards to COVID-19 income supports, income from WSS (Wage Subsidy Scheme) is included in market income, while income from PUP (Pandemic Unemployment Payment) is included in social transfers for SILC 2022 estimates. See Background Notes for details.
In SILC 2022, the mean weekly household gross income was €1,550, representing an increase of €97 (6.6%) from the previous year. See table 2.2a.
On average, households received €1,321 (85.2% of gross weekly income) from market income sources, and €229 (14.8% of gross income) from social transfers per week. However, this varied considerably by decile.
Ranking households from lowest household disposable income to highest and dividing by ten allows us to split households into deciles.
Households in the first household disposable income decile had a mean weekly gross income of €250, with an average €26 (10.5% of gross income) from market income and €224 (89.5% of gross income) from social transfers.
For households in the fifth decile the mean weekly gross income was €1,058, composed of an average €768 (72.5%) market income and €291 (27.5%) in social transfers.
Households in the tenth decile had a mean weekly gross income of €4,741, composed of an average €4,604 (97.1%) market income and €138 (2.9%) in social transfers. See figure 2.5 and table 2.3.
X-axis label | Total social transfers | Total market income |
---|---|---|
1st decile | 224.23 | 26.18 |
2nd decile | 252.76 | 162.17 |
3rd decile | 305.49 | 311.33 |
4th decile | 295.38 | 522.71 |
5th decile | 290.74 | 767.62 |
6th decile | 238.66 | 1055.74 |
7th decile | 194.73 | 1449.65 |
8th decile | 184.73 | 1846.08 |
9th decile | 167.01 | 2473.18 |
10th decile | 137.54 | 4603.52 |
Disposable income is gross income less total tax, personal and employer’s social insurance contributions, personal and employer’s pension contributions, and inter-household transfers paid.
The mean weekly contribution in income tax and social insurance was €291 (18.8% of gross income). After total deductions of €468 (30.2% of gross income), the average household had €1,083 in weekly disposable income. See table 2.3.
On average, households in the first household disposable income decile contributed €7 (2.7% of gross income) in tax, social insurance, inter-household transfers and pension deductions each week, containing an average €4 (1.5% of gross income) in tax and social insurance contributions. This left an average net disposable income of €244 per week.
For households in the fifth decile, an average of €233 (22.0% of gross income) was deducted each week leaving a disposable income of €826. On average, households in the fifth decile paid €131 a week (12.4% of gross income) in tax and social insurance contributions.
Households in the tenth decile had an average €1,876 (39.6% of gross income) deducted each week, resulting in a disposable income of €2,865. On average, households in the tenth decile paid €1,261 (26.6%) of gross income in weekly tax and social insurance contributions. See figure 2.6 and table 2.3.
X-axis label | Total Deductions | Net Disposable Income |
---|---|---|
1st decile | 6.75 | 243.67 |
2nd decile | 32.7 | 382.23 |
3rd decile | 71.64 | 545.17 |
4th decile | 133.07 | 685.02 |
5th decile | 232.65 | 825.71 |
6th decile | 303.33 | 991.08 |
7th decile | 466.03 | 1178.34 |
8th decile | 630.17 | 1400.64 |
9th decile | 926.87 | 1713.31 |
10th decile | 1875.69 | 2865.37 |
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.